Aerospace deal in the works for Town of Wallkill

TOWN OF WALLKILL — The cluster of high-tech aerospace manufacturers perched above the Town of Wallkill on Tower Drive seems to be on the cusp of a significant expansion.

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By Jessica DiNapoli

recordonline.com

By Jessica DiNapoli

Posted Jun. 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Jessica DiNapoli

Posted Jun. 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

TOWN OF WALLKILL — The cluster of high-tech aerospace manufacturers perched above the Town of Wallkill on Tower Drive seems to be on the cusp of a significant expansion.

An aerospace company already operating in the town is interested in expanding to a vacant 71,500-square-foot building on Tower Drive, said John Frassetto, a principal with the Frassetto Cos. in New Jersey.

Frassetto Cos., which owns the building, has been working on the deal for six months to a year, he said.

The news of a major manufacturing deal in that part of town seemed ready to break Friday.

Town of Wallkill officials expected to receive a financial-benefits application for a project located in the Tower Drive area. That application had not arrived by late Friday afternoon, according to Supervisor Dan Depew.

The agenda for next week's Orange County Industrial Development Agency meeting, meanwhile, includes a mysterious item called "Project X."

It could not be learned Friday whether "Project X" is the expansion Frassetto spoke of. However, IDA Chairman Robert Armistead did confirm that "Project X" refers to a manufacturing project in the Town of Wallkill.

Armistead said the company, which he did not identify, was trying to get a feel for what the IDA may be able to offer it. He added that he wasn't familiar with the specifics of the project.

The IDA's administrative assistant said Friday afternoon that "Project X" would be removed from the agenda.

A spokesman for Empire State Development, the state's economic development agency, said in an email that the agency is in regular communication with a number of industries, including aerospace and transportation equipment, to help them grow and create jobs in the state. The statement did not specifically address any potential project in the Town of Wallkill.

The Frassettos are the landlords for three aerospace industry companies operating in the Town of Wallkill, all either along or just off of Tower Drive. Those companies are Chromalloy Gas Turbine, Advanced Coating Technologies and Meyer Tool. Advanced Coating Technologies is a joint venture between Chromalloy and Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., a publicly traded Fortune 50 company. Meyer Tool is a supplier for Pratt & Whitney.

Previous expansions of the Tower Drive cluster have involved tens of millions in capital investment and created more than 100 high-paying, high-skill jobs.

Ray Hernandez, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said that the company continuously evaluates its footprint in response to customer needs. He, too, did not specifically mention the Town of Wallkill.

Orange County Partnership CEO Maureen Halahan declined to comment. The partnership helps companies already existing in the county stay here and expand, and works to bring new firms to the region.

Chris Frassetto, another principal in the Frassetto companies, couldn't comment on the working deal, but said that he would probably be able to talk about it in two weeks.